Tandem Senior Wins the 2019 Writer's Eye Poetry Competition

Tandem senior Meridith Frazee has just been announced as first-place winner in the high school Poetry category of the 33rd Annual Writer's Eye competition. Her poem, entitled woodcut and based on "Misty Spring" by Torii Kotondo, was selected over many other entries from students in grades 9-12. Meridith is a dedicated writer who, last semester, took an independent poetry study/writing class. Another Tandem Friends community member, current parent Jenny Koster, won first place in the University/Adult Poetry category for her poem Lineage, based on Maria Varela’s “Handing Spinning, Village of Los Ojos, NM, 1985”. View the art pieces that inspired their writings here. Congratulations to both talented Tandem poets!

Writer’s Eye, hosted by UVA's Fralin Art Museum, is an annual literary competition for local and regional writers of all ages who create original poetry and prose based on visual works of art chosen by the museum (eight pieces were chosen this year). Using visual art as inspiration for the creation of original poetry and prose, interested writers and student groups can participate in interactive tours from September to November to inspire their writing (3500 participants this year). This year's entries (there were 1296 total entries from all around the region) were judged by novelist Micheline Aharonian Marcom and poet Gregory Orr, and winners (1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each category), including Meridith and Jenny, will be honored on March 15 in a ceremony at UVA. All winning written pieces are published in an annual Writer's Eye anthology; free copies available at The Fralin. Tandem Friends students in most grades participate in The Writer's Eye every year and we frequently field honored entries.